Gulf High School (Florida)

Infobox School2
name = Gulf High School


established = 1922
type = Public
locale = New Port Richey, Florida
grades = 9-12
head_name = Principal
head = Steve Knobl
city = New Port Richey
state = Florida
country = United States
students = 2200
faculty = 83
school_colors = Green and White
mascot = Buccaneers
website = [http://www.gulfhigh.org http://www.gulfhigh.org]

Gulf High School is a four-year public high school in New Port Richey, Florida. It is part of the Pasco County School System in Pasco County, Florida. It is one of the oldest high schools in the area. It is also the second school in Pasco County to have the International Baccalaureate Program.

History

Gulf High School opened on September 18, 1922, with an initial enrollment of 39 students and a faculty consisting of three teachers. [New Port Richey Press, Sept. 21, 1922] There were no seniors during the first school year; the first graduation took place on April 29, 1924, with eleven seniors. [New Port Richey Press, May 2, 1924] Although Gulf High School remained the only high school in western Pasco County for over fifty years, enrollment remained small through the 1950s and local residents feared the state might close the school. In the 1920s and 1930s the sports teams were nicknamed the "Cooties," [New Port Richey Press, Feb. 21, 1936] from a shortened name for the Pithlachascotee River, on which the school was situated. In 1931 a dispute between the school trustees and the county school board over the selection of a principal was appealed to the Florida Supreme Court. [New Port Richey Press, Oct. 2, 1931] In 1938 football was revived after an absence of several years and in November of that year the "Tampa Tribune" dubbed the team the "losingest team in the country," [Tampa Morning Tribune, Nov. 5, 1938] as it had been outscored by 442-0 thus far in the season. But the 1941-42 football team had a 9-1 record and won the Gulf Coast Conference championship. [Gulf High School 1942 yearbook] In 1961 Gulf High School moved into a new building, [New Port Richey Press, Sept. 7, 1961] and in 1977 it moved to its third and current location at 5355 School Rd., New Port Richey FL 34652. [Gulf High School 1978 yearbook] The building which now houses Gulf High school opened as Gulf Junior High School (now Gulf Middle School) in 1971; in 1977 the two schools switched buildings. Schools in Pasco County were racially integrated in the 1960s, and the first black students to attend Gulf High School were enrolled at the start of the 1966-67 school year. [Gulf High School 1967 yearbook] In June 2005, the Programme for Identifying Baccalaureate Students was started, thus giving West Pasco its first IB school and Pasco County its second IB school. In April 2007, the International Baccalaureate Organization approved a diploma program for Gulf High School [http://sptimes.com/2007/04/26/Pasco/Gulf_High_earns_IB_st.shtml] . 2009 will be the year in which Gulf High School's 1st IB Senior class will graduate.

Clubs

*Spanish Honor Society
*Mu Alpha Theta (Math Honor Society)
*National Honor Society
*National English Honor Society
*National Art Honor Society [http://gulfhigh.org/news/2008/nahs.html]
*FBLA
*Interact Club

Learning communities

Gulf High School currently offers five learning community options, as follows::*Institute of Health and Human Services:The focus of the "IHHS", which was founded in 1996, is to facilitate students who aspire to pursue careers in health related fields or other human services. This learning community is heavily affiliated with the national student organization HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America), which lends a competitive aspect to the learning process. Especially later in the program, there is a very hands on approach to discovering where a student may best fit in the world of health and human services. :*Cooperate Education Clubs Of Florida:The focus of the "CCEF", which was founded in 1982, is to facilitate students who aspire to pursue careers in Business. This learning community is heavily affiliated with the national student organization (ITS),(IBT), and (FBLA), which lends a competitive aspect to the learning process. Especially later in the program, there is a very hands on approach to discovering where a student may best fit in the world of managing a future cooperate organization or facility. The current President and Vice President of CCEF and BPA (Business Profesionals of America) are as followed; (P) Fredric Phillips and (VP) Kenneth Booth Taylor. This club would not be as outstanding and successfull as it is without these two fine young gentleman running it. :*Institute of Communications and the Arts:The focus of this learning community is, in part, the fine arts and the appreciation thereof. Gulf High School has a very well developed fine arts program, with courses in photography, art, chorus, drama and several bands. :*Institute of Business and Technology::*Institute of Technical Services::*International Baccalaureate Program:In June 2005, the Programme for Identifying Baccalaureate Students was started, thus giving West Pasco its first IB school and Pasco County its second IB school. In April 2007, the International Baccalaureate Organization approved a diploma program for Gulf High School. 2009 will be the year in which Gulf High School's 1st IB Senior class will graduate. The demanding course work offered by the program challenges students and prepares students for college course work and at the same time, gives students the chance to earn college credit by passing the IB exams at the end of the year and Advanced Placement classes taken throughout the year. The decision to place the International Baccalaureate Program at Gulf High School was finalized after several other high schools in West Pasco were considered.

References

External links

* [http://www.gulfhigh.org Gulf High School website]
* [http://nces.ed.gov/ccd/schoolsearch/school_detail.asp?Search=1&InstName=gulf+high+school&State=12&SchoolType=1&SchoolType=2&SchoolType=3&SchoolType=4&SpecificSchlTypes=all&IncGrade=-1&LoGrade=-1&HiGrade=-1&ID=120153001578 National Center for Education Statistics data for Gulf High School]
* [http://www.fivay.org/gulf/history.html History of Gulf High School]